Inquiry Question

How would Chairman Mao be viewed if he died earlier?

Inquiry Question

How would Chairman Mao be viewed if he died earlier?

What were Mao's ideas? Did people like them?

Mao had a mentality that was tactful and cautious of ideological refinements. People thought of peasants as people who were incapable of doing things, yet Mao gradually decided to base his revolution on the China's peasant, which there were a lot of them. Mao actually saw what many others couldn't see. He saw that since they were poor and blank, that is their potential energy since strength and violence were inherent in their current state. Mao's economic policies were very disastrous. In biography.com it says, "His decision to collectivize farm production led to a precipitous decline in agrarian output. Chinese officials tried to hide the extent of starvation and foreign aid was not welcome." It is estimated 70 million of Mao's own country man died at his hand either directly or indirectly through his policies (Biography.com Editors).

Statue of Mao Zedong

Businessmen and some rural communities helped construct the Mao statue in Zhuishang was completely made out of gold. Chinese chipped in nearly 3 million yuan ($459,000) to build the 108 feet high statue. The statue was demolished because it lacked approval from authorities.

Mao political cartoon

The political cartoon shows how Mao didn't care about any money and all he wanted was people to follow his communist rules and beliefs. The cartoon shows how he crushed all the people and held up his communism and didn't care about the democratic theories.

The little red book

Mao wrote his quotes in this book and enforced it to be taught in schools. Any person who opposed the teachings were subject to be prosecuted by the red army. Aforementioned in political cartoon, the red book was his basis for all his "theories".

Statue of Mao Zedong

Businessmen and some rural communities helped construct the Mao statue in Zhuishang was completely made out of gold. Chinese chipped in nearly 3 million yuan ($459,000) to build the 108 feet high statue. The statue was demolished because it lacked approval from authorities.

Mao political cartoon

The political cartoon shows how Mao didn't care about any money and all he wanted was people to follow his communist rules and beliefs. The cartoon shows how he crushed all the people and held up his communism and didn't care about the democratic theories.

The little red book

Mao wrote his quotes in this book and enforced it to be taught in schools. Any person who opposed the teachings were subject to be prosecuted by the red army. Aforementioned in political cartoon, the red book was his basis for all his "theories".

What kind of person was Mao? What did he believe in?

Chairman Mao was a charismatic, but a brutal leader. Mao was a nationalist, and he was a strong anti-Western and anti-imperialist even in his early ages. Mao’s nationalism and his willingness to fight for what he wants became what he is known for. Mao created a climate of fear where people were afraid of speaking anything in front of him. (Encyclopedia Britannica) Mao stood up for what he believed in, but he also rebelled against the opposing side intensively. He started with rebelling his father and not wanting to marry and ended up rebelling the nationalist party and supporting the communist party and bringing it to a high state. Mao was a leader and lead communism to its furthest extent. Mao even created the Republic of China, and believed in it (Lu).

How did the the people view Mao in the beginning of his ruling. How did it change over time?

The Chinese people don't and didn't just believe just one point of view for Mao. There's a range of viewpoints from the Mao worshipers who would like nothing more than to believe Mao is a hero and those who believe he was an terrible villain, a murderous monster. Like Mao, Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of Qin dynasty was ruthless, but he unified the country. Mao saw himself very much in the same role and continued that archetype. Many people of the main land say that Mao was "good" up until the very early 1950s, before he set China on a complete different path (Mckurdy). Mao is recognized for his leadership in uniting China and let China not be bullied by any other country, even Soviet, and Mao is also thought as the leader who delayed China' economy growing for more than 10 years. Mao was a "good" person with great ideas until a certain point of time. After that, he took his power into a different path which led people to have mixed opinion a about him .

New questions from research?

Why did Mao "kill" the peasants even though he came from a peasant family?

If Mao had a child, how would China be now?

Are there other leaders that model after Mao? Who and Why?

So What? How will this new learning enrich your life or change your behavior?

Learning about Mao has changed my perspective on China and its rule. At the beginning, I thought a good leader would always be a good leader and vice versa, but Mao had good ideas but took them into the wrong direction. This would change my behavior since good ideas won't always lead to good things. Good ideas will only lead to good things if they are directed the right way.

Summary or explanation of new learning.

Mao had amazing ideas, but incorporated them in Chinese life in a wrong way. If Mao died in the early 1950's with all his good ideas still out their, people would worship him in great extent. Since Mao lived longer he turned those ideas into thousands of lives. Chairman Mao had great insights, but late in his life, with all the power he gained, he took those insights into the wrong directions. People were real enthusiasts for his ideas and really supported him and looked at him like a hero, but Mao didn't always stay like a hero. Mao would've been respected and been a hero in everyone's perspective. One's legacy is only determined after their death and what they did only before they died. Mao, since he died later, his legacy was brutality, but still good ideas. If he died earlier, then it would be the man with great ideas that invented modern China.

reflection

Using Smore was really fun as it wasn't boring like a google doc. Although their were some technical difficulties that wasted a lot of my time. I really thought that finding the info was really interesting since I didn't know a lot about Mao. The in text citations were a struggle since I forgot about them and had to track down all the information I put and do the citations. The overall project was really fun even with some minor set backs.